So before I show certain matchups where Zac can struggle I'd like to make a small list that will reflect some of the reasons why, aside from also pointing out other potential threats that I haven't listed so far.
- Mobile vs Immobile:
Zac is especially good against immobile champions, some examples are Ashe, Heimerdinger, and Lux, as they don't have any dash and are usually pretty stationary, of course they have certain crowd control that might affect you once you land, but if your combo is done correctly it shouldn't matter. So be aware of mobile champions, that have dashes, jumps, leaps, or any form of mobility as they can avoid your initial jump.
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- Heavy counterjungle:
Zac isn't the strongest champion to 1v1 enemies, he is able to due to his higher crowd control and can sometimes even counter jungler other junglers because of his good AoE clear, this doesn't mean that some junglers can't be a real pain, for example, Udyr, Master Yi, Trundle, and potentially more squishy assassins like Shaco and Rengar are able to fight you, especially if you are behind. One of the reasons why is that his Q can only be fully activated with two targets, you might be able to fight some of them, but be careful.
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- Good clear:
Zac has a pretty good jungle clear, I wouldn't say the fastest nor best, but he can clear AoE camps relatively fast, so it makes up some time for the more bulky single camps like Blue buff. This is a good bonus because, it allows you to gank your teammates. This is important because you want to pick Zac against matchups where you either know the enemy jungler will be more focused on farming to get his/her level 6 that allows for easier ganks, possibly Evelynn, or also find enemy laners that are bad when ganked, and can get very far behind, plus those that can't avoid your spells easily. For example, if you see a Nasus toplane, you'd want to gank him, Zac's crowd control will make for an easier gank and even later on in the game might be able to lock him down to let you shut him down completely.
This might come as a surprise to you but Janna is actually a good counter against Zac, here is a list to why and what to try and avoid.
- Her tornado, not only does it cancel you while you charge your E, it can also cancel you mid flight, so try and be unseen when you gank botlane early or when you try to engage later on. Be aware that
Yasuo can also do this, and I'm almost certain Nami's ultimate is also able.
- Her ult, if she is fast, she will push you back out the second you land with your E, try and avoid this by either using ult to become immune to crowd control or make sure you jump on top of her as well.
- Her added movement speed, it might not seem relevant but it might make the difference between enemies dodging your engage or not, so try to always surprise the enemy.
So all in all, try to engage on her without being seen or either when she has her cooldowns, try and wait till she uses her tornado for example.
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Supports
So, we named Janna already, but there are more supports who impose smaller but still persistent threats to Zac.
Morgana: Her blackshield (E) can easily save anyone from your crowd control, so to counter it aim for multiple targets, but always keep in mind she can bind you the second you land too.
Karma: Her ultimate plus shield combo will allow her team to easily avoid your leap and her zoning with Focused Resolve might be able to keep you locked down.
Taric: His ultimate denies all your damage, if played well he could potentially deny the damage of your combo and even if your team follows up during, it won't matter.
Tahm Kench: He can Devour any of his allies helping him avoid your combo, the only good thing is, you can always focus him. if he eats anyone they avoid the damage but still get taken with you if you decide to ult.
There might be some other minor things that might lock you down, since crowd control is always present. So always remember what the enemy has that can potentially deny you.
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Trundle could be put in the support section but as he now is mostly played as a jungler, I decided to give him his own section, although there are only two things to keep in mind.
- His pillar, if the
Trundle is actually good, he can deny your leap (E) easily by putting a pillar down while you are midair, and he will stop you in your tracks. Also while you are charging your leap, it stops the charge.
- His ultimate makes you weaker, as he steals your stats, especially your health. I'd suggest not facing a trundle because if he is smart he will target you every fight with his ultimate making it easier for his team to kill you and making himself stronger.
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ADC's
There are a lot of ADC's that impose no threat to Zac, as his damage usually is enough to handle them, even so if you target them with an ally you should be able to make quick work of them, this doesn't mean that all of them are, plus some might actually have their own tricks up their sleeve.
Twitch: Pretty immobile, which makes him an easy target, but his invisibility might become an issue later on, when he shows himself he will already be attacking you thus it will be difficult to engage on him.
Caitlyn: The traps are an issue, her net (E) too, as she can avoid your jump, plus keep distance between the two of you.
Xayah: Her ult can deny your entire combo.
Vayne: One of your worst enemies, she shreds your health plus she can deny your jump with her tumble. Her invisibility also makes it difficult for you to lock her down.
Kog'Maw: Immobile so easy to hit, yet he might have enough peel and shred you faster than you might think.
Draven: Draven's E can cancel out your engage, his added movement speed from his W might also become trickier.
Lucian: Again, he has a dash which can help him avoid your jump.
Ezreal: Similar to Lucian and Caitlyn, ezreal is very mobile and with his slows, it might be very tricky to catch him.
Miss Fortune: Usually immobile, she has added movement speed but only out of combat, if she ults she stands still, so it can be easy to hit her, it depends on how your team is doing.
Kalista: Her dashes are a problem as they help her avoid your crowd control.
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